Duke Physician Assistant Program News

Soon, I will finish my last clinical rotation as a Duke Physician Assistant (PA) student. I am writing this from the floor of my empty apartment, after packing everything I own into a U-Haul for my move back to Maryland. Two years ago, I looked at this same empty apartment on move-in day, imagining how different my “PA student life” would be from the one I left behind.

As the COVID-19 global pandemic moves into August, what everyone hoped would be a time-limited issue is becoming the country’s new standard. Masks have become a fashion statement as well as a political flashpoint. All are tired of Zoom meetings, and desperate extroverts are socializing across yards.

At the Duke Physician Assistant Program, leaders are leaning into challenges while looking for opportunities to re-imagine the structure of students’ education, not just for the immediate crisis, but for the future.

The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) recently elected Duke Physician Assistant students Laura Okolie and Leslie Flego as 2020-2021 student representatives of their House of Delegates (HOD).  

Our last school year is about to begin Never thought the day would come! In the midst of COVID-19, this summer break was a relief after a busy first year, and I enjoyed all the time I spent with my family. At the same time, I felt the constant dread of “did I do enough - or anything productive - over break?” Many of my classmates echo my anxiety when we chat. It is the worry of losing all that we gained over the first year that keeps my mind pacing. Thankfully, my partner reassures me over FaceTime each night with “it is called a break for a reason.” This stops my worrying for the next 8 hours that most of what I did over break revolved around the beach.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded the Duke Physician Assistant Program a $2 million five-year grant for the project “Physician Assistant Leaders in Underserved Communities.” 

The grant will provide $400,000 for scholarships to be awarded to 10 disadvantaged students each year, including students who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups. It will also allow the creation of unique clinical opportunities through longitudinal placement in primary care settings in medically underserved communities.

1st-year Physician Assistant students Hannah Lee and Meghan Horio are the recipients of the Chancellor's Service Fellowship,  the first all-PA team to win the award. 

Hannah Lee describes the award and tells us about the project they have planned.

Quincy Jones, MSW, MHS, PA-C; Mara Sanchez, MMS, PA-C, RD; Susan Hibbard, PhD;  and Joanne Rolls, MPAS, MEHP, PA-C, assistant professor at the University of Utah, have been recognized by PAEA's Support to Advance Research (STAR) Program for their proposal, LGBTQ Curricula in Physician Assistant Programs. Their study focuses on the amount and delivery of curricular content related to caring for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) populations.

When Duke University School of Medicine students were pulled from clinical rotations on March 17 as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Megan Brown felt lost. As a second-year student in the Duke Physician Assistant Program, she was in the middle of a women’s health rotation, looking ahead to graduation and contemplating her future career as a physician assistant (PA). Then everything changed.

PA Program Facebook Page

Tiffany Tran is a second-year Duke PA student and a former U.S. Army National Guard medic.